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Edward Snowden Still Stuck At Airport, May Be Permitted Entry Into Russia Soon
sl4shd0rk writes "Edward Snowden, the enlightening NSA Whistleblower, may have been granted refuge in Russia as reported by Interfax News. He has apparently been given papers (and a change of clothes) by the Russian government to allow him to soon leave the Sheremetyevo airport. The delay in exodus, cited by a Russian official, is apparently due to the 'uniqueness' of the situation being cause for thorough review of Snowden's Asylum request."
Reports are conflicting; WaPo and Reuters say Snowden's Asylum application is still in limbo, whereas other sources are claiming only minor details are blocking his exit and he may be allowed to leave as early as tomorrow. What is certain is that he's not leaving today despite early reports claiming he could.
He's just waiting for his luggage to pop out on the carousel
Unreported: how much contact Snowden has had personally with the Russian authorities, just like we have no idea how much contact he had with Hong Kong's.
Is he trading info for asylum?
Let me rephrase this unfounded speculation with the purpose of impugning his character:
Is Edward Snowden selling US secrets because he hates freedom?. We don't know. We're just asking the question. Next on Fox News, why don't we know if Snowden has terrorist connections? Is the mainstream media covering this up? We report, you decide.
He is the story now. What the governement is doing in terms of spying on its own people is now largely forgotten in the news cycles.
"The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
They're in jail or dead.
What good is disappearing into a hole forever, with no further contact with the world, going to do for his cause? People will just forget about him. At least this way, he and Assange can blog and publicly comment. That's way more than Bradley Manning will ever be able to do again.
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
Every time I hear that argument, I have to laugh. If we had any reason to believe Snowden's constitutional rights would be upheld and he'd be given what he has a right to (a fair, speedy, and public trial) I might agree with you. The problem is, Snowden exposed the government in their violations of the basic rights theoretically protected by our Constitution, and it's not as if the government is acknowledging the other rights therein outlined. That's what is at hand here.
Snowden has been in an airport terminal for several weeks precisely because he is aware that his actions have consequences. Neither you nor the US government gets to micromanage what those consequences are, no matter how much Uncle Sam wants to pretend they do.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
Bradley Manning's treatment got to them. Going to jail for your beliefs is one thing. Spending a year in solitary confinement with guards refusing to let you sleep for *months* and making you strip naked at random times...before you're even *charged*, is quite another. Indepenent of Manning's guilt/innocence, his treatement before his trial was shameful.
Because causing their greatest geo-political competitor massive embarrasment in front of the whole world isn't enough incentive for Russia to let him stay? What does Russia have to gain by throwing him out? Many of their top allies all support giving Snowden asylum. They get to paint America as the bad guys, and themselves as pro-freedom. Why on earth would they need extra incentives above and beyond that? Any intelligence Snowden could offer has less value than his presence.
CNN has had a couple of corespondents try and find Snowden at the airport. There's actually a hotel has a floor that isn't considered Russian territory (having not passed through customs) that they will bus you off airport property to. There's room service, and probably laundry as well.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/11/world/europe/russia-snowden-goodman-transit/index.html?iref=allsearch
Interesting read actually. And of course they didn't see him...
BlameBillCosby.com
I gave him points for what he did, but they were loss by how he is just hiding across borders, because he doesn't want to face the consequences for his action.
This isn't like Martin Luther King Jr spending a few days in jail in Birmingham. The United States government has made it clear its intentions towards Snowden: They've already caused at least one major diplomatic incident involving violating the rights of a foreign head of state to try to get to him. I have every reason to believe Snowden is on the short list for getting the Anwar Al-Awlaki treatment if he goes to somewhere that the US can get a drone to, and the Bradley Manning treatment if he otherwise ends up in US hands.
I'd be on the run too.
I am officially gone from
That makes him a traitor in my book, regardless of what he ended up finding out.
So investigative reporters who specifically try to dig up all the bad things they can about their own country are traitors. You have some seriously skewed priorities if you believe that someone trying to expose government malfeasence is the wrongdoer.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
A traitor to whom? The only people he betrayed are the ones who betrayed the people by spying on them. He did nothing but expose traitors.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
What Happens When We Actually Catch Edward Snowden? http://www.lawfareblog.com/2013/07/what-happens-when-we-actually-catch-edward-snowden/
To paraphrase George C. Scott paraphrasing George S. Patton, "You don't win wars by dying for your country, you win wars by making the other poor bastard die for his."
Also, have you noticed what's happened to the prison system in the past twenty years? Not that it was a peachy keen hotel before, but, yeah, this ain't like spending 30 days in the county jail with a window, a bunkbed and a harmonica. He'd be in solitary, in conditions the U.N. considers torture, and unable to communicate his message to the rest of the world.
Jail is one thing. Torture is something else entirely.
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
Former KGB General Oleg Kalugin, who is an American citizen and critic of Putin, stated in an interview that he doesn't believe that Snowden has much if anything Russian intelligence didn't already know. http://ianmasters.com/content/july-2-julian-assange-now-speaking-edward-snowden-kgb-general-standoff-moscow-could-deadly-n
Are you talking about the guy who was charged with rape by a 'witness' who refused to sign the testimony, for which all charges were initially dropped, then reopened once he leaked the US diplomatic cables?
Help I am stuck in a signature factory!
Indepenent of Manning's guilt/innocence, his treatement before his trial was shameful.
Not just shameful, it was criminal. Cruel and unusual punishments are prohibited by the constitution.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
You die for your principals
As the great General Patton once said, you don't win by dying for your principles.
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
That poll is bullshit. If a third of people don't know who he was, then the number was larger when the propaganda campaign started. All that this poll shows is that most people are ignorant and influenced by propaganda.
And as far as his lawyer, your claims are ridiculous. In his case he needed to hire a lawyer with connections. In Russia than means that he would likely have contacts with the FSB. If he hired someone unconnected, he would be fucked. But that does not mean that Snowden is giving information to the FSB.
All that you are doing is trying to smear Snowden by association, comparison to a spy, and by misleading polls. Your post is nothing but a smear piece. I have to wonder if your fingers felt greasy before clicking 'submit'. Looking through your comment history reads like the posts of a neo-con. You justify the Iraq invasion, you talk about how Afghanistan is better now, you discount the idea of proportionality, and you unequivocally support spying on US citizens. And that is only in the past couple of days. You are a zealot who has no connection to reality, which explains your above post.
What part of 'WE DONT TRUST THE GOVERNMENT TO CONDUCT A FAIR TRIAL' do you not get. They have PROVEN they are quite happy to ignore the law, torture people and hold them for very long periods of time without trial or representation. Your suggestion is like letting a rape victim be judged by the rapist.
Good-bye